And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
The rain was a literal downpour upon the earth for forty days and forty nights without stopping, falling after Noah, his family, and the animals had entered the ark and the Lord had shut them in, with eight persons inside in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. It was the first rain ever seen, beginning slowly and lightly and then increasing until the heavens poured in torrents, joined by the waters from beneath when the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The waters were God's wrath poured out against great wickedness and violence, destroying every living thing outside the ark while the ark rode safely by God's power and preserved the obedient until the indignation was overpast. As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be at the second coming of the Son of man, when a secure, pleasure-loving world will likewise be taken unawares, and the Flood stands with Sodom and the final destruction by fire as the same verdict on impenitence.
Timing Before the Rain
The rain fell only after Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives, eight persons in all, together with the animals, had entered the ark and the Lord had shut them in, in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. Those shut in then waited seven rainless days with clear skies, and the rain began on the eighth day. That delay tried Noah's faith while outsiders mocked and derided, and during that testing week the quiet entry of the beasts and birds two by two under invisible leading stood as evidence before those who instead of humbling themselves chose mockery.
It was the first rain ever seen, with the first clouds ever seen, for up to that time no rain had fallen and the earth had been watered by a mist, so there had been no natural sign of such rain. The rain began slowly and lightly at first and then increased until the heavens were opened and poured down in torrents like the windows of heaven opened. Methuselah and some of his family received Noah's instruction and helped build the ark. The Flood is a historical event and Noah a literal person.
Character of the Deluge
The rain was a literal downpour upon the earth for forty days and forty nights without stopping. It poured morning and evening, at first taken up by the ground and then rising higher and higher day by day until the ground could drink it up no longer, and men looked on one another in despair at its continuance. The storm remained terrifying throughout the whole time.
Water from above was joined by water from beneath, for the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. The crust of the earth was broken, powerful jets burst from the earth, water hidden in its bowels burst forth, and large stones were thrown into the air. Water from heaven joined waters gushing from the earth to bring desolation, pouring down like cataracts as the deep also burst forth.
The waters overwhelmed the surface, entered houses, and destroyed every living thing outside the ark until not a living person or animal outside was left alive. People fled everywhere for refuge, crying for safety, pleading for admission and clinging to the ark until washed away by the waves, climbing mountains and trees and the tops of the highest trees with terrified animals, only to be swept into the boiling deep and flung into the foaming flood. They climbed to the mountains for safety, but the water reached over the tops of the highest trees.
The opening destruction began with the works of men's own hands. Their splendid buildings and the beautiful gardens and groves where they had placed their idols, with palaces and costly works to satisfy pleasure lovers, beautiful forests, fruitful trees and shady avenues, were destroyed by lightning from heaven, uprooted by torrents, swept away with the inhabitants, and scattered in ruins far and wide with masses of rubbish and earth. Idol temples were swept away, the places where men had placed idols were filled, the altars where human sacrifices had been offered were torn down, and rocks concealed under the surface were thrown up to cover the most lovely places men had adored, so that worshipers trembled at the power of the living God and knew their corruption and idolatry had called down destruction.
The catastrophe transformed and broke up the earth's surface, leaving it broken, disordered, uneven, and a frightful solitude under a curse, burying its former treasures. As the crust was re-formed it preserved evidence of the life that existed before the Flood, still seen in rocks thrown up from the deep and from the earth, deep gorges, seamed and cleft rocks, and varied shapes and structures. The time and setting of ancient remains are learned from this inspired history rather than inferred from geology alone, and the terrors of that awful outpouring are vivid when its witnesses are beheld.
Throughout the frightful storm that hurled trees, buildings, rocks, and earth about, the ark floated upon the troubled waters and rode safely by God's power. Its safety was a continuing miracle of almighty power, for angels guided it and preserved it from harm. The rising water lifted the immense boat built on dry land by itself to form a great sea around it, so no iron standards were needed to bear it up and no track was needed to carry it to the water.
Wickedness and Rejected Warning
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and that the earth was corrupt before Him and filled with violence and crime. That corruption had grown through unrestrained eating and drinking, appetite and indulgence without check, until it was so great that He could no longer bear with it.
Men had put God out of their knowledge and worshiped creatures of their own imagination, clothing false gods with human attributes and passions, and by beholding them became like them and were defiled. In doing so the inhabitants transgressed His law given as a rule of life, and the breaking forth of the waters that threw up rocks from the great deep still leaves witnesses to that judgment to be seen. Their transgression was continual and open and daring, with ingratitude and disobedience, justice trampled in the dust until the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven, and after Adam's fall men grew only more bold in disobedience. It was for this continual transgression that the flood came, while Noah and his family preserved the law and were saved in the ark by miracle because of their right-doing.
Yet in mercy God gave one hundred and twenty years to repent, to choose between good and evil, to turn from sins, overcome bad habits, and form righteous characters, time enough to find refuge in the ark. During that probation Noah as a preacher of righteousness faithfully bore God's warning that at the end of that time He would send a flood upon the impenitent, and that all who would not keep heaven's commandments should drink the waters of the flood. He warned by voice while preaching and building the immense ark, a boat on dry land, and Noah with his helpers and the believing ones kept working and preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn heaped upon them. Only a few repented, for some carpenters he employed who believed died before the flood and others of his converts backslid, so that only eight lived to enter the ark.
The large population rejected the gracious invitation to repent and be saved, and persisted in crime and violence, in planting and building, eating and drinking, marrying, idolatrous business, vileness and crime. They followed their own pleasure in money-making routine, rioting, godless pleasure, and inventions of iniquity, and through their violence acted as though bringing awakened wrath upon themselves. Nearly all thought Noah was wrong and they were right, claimed to know more than God's faithful servant, and closed their ears to truth until darkness came upon them. They denounced him as a visionary, fanatic, alarmist, enthusiast, and not levelheaded, branding his warnings as superstitious fears and forebodings. They explained his statement by false science as foolishness, laughed and mocked his words as parables, derided the messages from heaven, drove away their fears with loud merriment, and trusted that the natural order would prevent destruction.
Their unbelief and mockery did not hinder the predicted event, nor did rejection make the message of none effect, for the rain Noah foretold actually came though no sign of such rain had ever existed. They finally drank the waters that covered the earth, and none but Noah and his family were saved in the ark. This proves that majority opinion and opposition do not change God's Word, that great numbers do not determine truth, and that heaven is not reached by following the majority.
Judgment and Deliverance
The forty days and nights of rain were the pouring out of divine indignation and wrath upon transgressors, an exhibition of power against an impenitent world that had grown more bold in disobeying the law since Adam's fall. The Flood deluged the earth because its inhabitants had transgressed that law, and it remains an awful outpouring whose terrors are vivid when its witnesses are beheld in the rocks thrown up from the great deep and from the earth. After bearing long with sin, God vindicated His authority when the crisis came, for He beholds all the works of men though the wicked say their way is hidden from Him.
He had declared the limits of forbearance and sent warning through a faithful servant for one hundred and twenty years to turn from sin, but that love was rejected and despised until the measure of iniquity was full and the bounds of long-suffering, grace, and mercy were passed. Men exceeded those bounds when, with a plain word from the Lord to guide them, they presumed on mercy, went decidedly counter to His will, and despised all warnings. Then God interfered in wrath to vindicate the honor of His law, repress the increase of unrighteousness, blot out those indifferent to His law, limit human life, and prevent men from spoiling one another in continual disobedience and defiance. Their course of persisting in crime and violence and repeatedly rejecting the messages sent wore out long-suffering patience, so that as despisers of mercy they were made to drink the waters of the flood. In that act He appeared as avenger to the wicked and protector of the righteous, giving ear to His people who had cried to Him with humiliation and fasting for wickedness to end, and answering them by terrible things in righteousness.
In judging a corrupt world and removing its wicked inhabitants, God acted in mercy and cleansed the earth of moral corruption. That corruption had become so great through unchecked appetite and unrestrained eating, drinking, and indulgence that He could no longer bear with them. Both water and fire declare His verdict on those unwilling to submit to Him.
The ark gave shelter to the obedient until the indignation was overpast, for God preserved Noah and his family because of their right-doing. Only eight righteous persons of that vast population, Noah with his wife and his sons and their wives, believed the warning, fled for refuge, entered, and were saved, while the rebellious race outside were swept away and death was their portion. Some who had believed for a time died before the Flood and others backslid, so only those eight lived to enter. Noah and his family had preserved the law and were saved in the ark by miracle.
The Flood thus distinguished the obedient from the disobedient by the standard of God's law and proved His word true. All were tested by the truth Noah preached while he and his helpers kept working on the immense ark, a boat on dry land, and preaching all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn heaped on them. Those who believed and turned from unrighteousness were saved, exemplifying the reward of obedience and the penalty of disobedience. The destruction of the antediluvian world by the Flood was the sure result of transgression of the holy law by inhabitants who would not heed the admonitions given them, and it gives a lesson embracing all time on what disobedience brings, standing with the destruction of Sodom, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the final destruction of the whole world in the closing period of its history for the same transgression and impenitence.
The rain came after Adam and Eve fell in Eden and opened the floodgates of woe, when the world had become corrupt before God and only a few would believe. The Flood stands within the great plan of redemption laid before creation, by which humanity is given the privilege of gaining back God-given manhood and womanhood so the immortal image of God may be restored.
Pattern for the End
As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of man, for the deliverance of Noah and the destruction of those who knew not until the flood took them all away leave the same pattern for Christ's sudden second coming and final judgment, when a pleasure-loving world absorbed in worldly life will likewise be taken unawares. The rain was a literal downpour for forty days and nights after Noah, his family, and the animals had entered the ark and the Lord had shut them in, in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, when the fountains of the deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. It came as the fulfillment of the warning Noah had preached by voice and by building the ark during one hundred and twenty years of probation to repent of sins and find refuge, time enough to turn, overcome bad habits, and form righteous characters, which the large population rejected with planting and building, eating and drinking, marrying, idolatrous business, vileness and crime, denouncing Noah as a visionary, fanatic, and alarmist and mocking his warnings as superstitious fears. Their rejection and mockery did not hinder the predicted event, and those who refused were left in darkness to follow the curse their own hearts had chosen, perishing in their sins until not a living person or animal outside was left alive, under great wrath seen in general ruin, which proves men can exceed the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace when with a thus saith the Lord they presume on mercy, go counter to His will, and despise all warnings, so that God interferes in wrath to vindicate His law, repress unrighteousness, blot out indifference, limit life, and prevent continual defiance. The Flood was a historical event and Noah a literal person, and Christ's comparison shows that human nature unguided by God's Spirit is the same, while Noah's deliverance serves as a pattern for God's people who warn of coming judgment and will be protected from the wicked who seek to destroy them, including those who refuse the beast's decree and mark.
Sudden destruction will break upon a pleasure-loving, moneymaking, secure world and upon a sleeping church crying peace and safety, unprepared for the Lord's appearing, after the promised rain actually fell on a world that had had no rain, fulfilling God's warning through Noah despite mockery, scorn, and unbelief about an ark built on dry land and destroying the wicked who refused to believe and enter for safety, which shows unbelief cannot prevent threatened judgment. The inhabitants of Noah's world forgot admonition and were overtaken while asleep in carnal security, full of rioting and godless pleasure, putting afar off the Lord's coming, laughing at warnings and calling the warners fanatics, enthusiasts, and not levelheaded, carrying on plans and inventions of iniquity and routine money-making work without principle, boastful that all things remain as from the beginning, and their being taken unawares is the pattern for the day the Son of man is revealed, when the pleasure-loving world will likewise be taken unawares by Christ coming as a thief. The whole world is fast becoming as then, with eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and the flood took them all away, with fraudulent transactions, murders, and crimes of every kind so common they no longer shock, and with the Spirit being withdrawn and keeping power soon refused to those who disregard His commandments. As Noah was preserved in the ark God had prepared for him, so in the coming days of destruction and calamity, with convulsed nature, burning mountains, boiling waters, mighty earthquakes, and great destruction of life before the Son of man appears in the clouds, God will be the refuge of His believing ones and no evil or plague will come nigh their dwelling, for He will hide them in His pavilion and set them upon a rock.
The waters that judged a corrupt world and removed its wicked inhabitants in mercy also serve as a pattern for the fires of the final day, for both water and fire declare God's verdict on those unwilling to submit to Him. The flood destroyed the inhabitants because after one hundred and twenty years granted to choose between good and evil they deliberately chose their own wicked ways and did not repent and turn, and it warns of the coming great destruction of the world by fire, before which men are again granted a period of test and trial to show whether they will be loyal and obey His law. The destruction by flood was the sure result of transgression of God's holy law and gives a lesson embracing all time on what disobedience brings, standing with the destruction of Sodom, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the final destruction of the whole world in the closing period of history for the same transgression and impenitence.
As it was in the days of Noah so it is today, for the rain did not fall at once after Noah entered and God shut the door, but after seven rainless days in which the people mocked instead of humbling themselves despite the evidence of the animals quietly entering two and two under invisible leading, and when the week ended the rain began gently then increased in power until every living thing was destroyed and the hardened were swept away, and with wickedness increasing only a very short time is left to prepare before another general destruction. Time is very short because wickedness is increasing as then, and as the animals came without visible leader, then the hour came to close the ark and it was closed and the old world perished, so the closing means the last call of mercy is not heard by those blinded by peace and safety theories while trying to serve two masters, leaving him that is holy holy still and him that is filthy filthy still, so all must humble themselves under the mighty hand of God and wake up and get ready before it is everlastingly too late. God looks upon the world today just as then, and increasing calamities, earthquakes, floods, and disasters by land and sea belong to that same judgment, and He sends warning messages today just as He sent them before the rain came, because this age repeats the wickedness before the flood.
Though moral darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, the duty remains to lift the voice in warning, for the rain fell on an impenitent, pleasure-loving, corrupt world after Noah faithfully bore God's message in obedience, and only eight of that vast population accepted, fled for refuge into the ark, and were saved, while his message condemned the unbelieving world. The same unbelief that prevailed before the Flood will exist prior to Christ's coming, and professed children of God are to be called to face transgressions, receive sufficient light, keep all His commandments, and be saved, with the message proving a savor of life unto life to those who heed it and of death unto death to those who reject it. The obedient were distinguished from the disobedient by the standard of God's law when the one-hundred-twenty-year probation given in mercy closed and the unrepentant were swept from the earth, while Noah and his helpers kept working on the immense ark, a boat on dry land, and the believing ones kept the faith and preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn heaped on them.
Loyalty to God and His law must not shift even if the whole world opposes, for the rain Noah foretold actually came though no signs of such rain had ever existed, while nearly all thought he was wrong and they were right, claimed to know more than God's servant, closed their ears to truth so darkness came upon them, branded him a fanatic, explained by false science that his statement was foolishness, and laughed and mocked his words as parables. Their unbelief did not prevent the flood, and they finally drank the waters that covered the earth, which shows majority opinion and opposition do not change God's Word, walking contrary to His Word stirs rebellion and brings His displeasure, so believers are to be found loyal and true when Christ comes.
The rain was a literal downpour upon the earth for forty days and forty nights without stopping, falling after Noah, his family, and the animals had entered the ark and the Lord had shut them in, with eight persons inside in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. It was the first rain ever seen, beginning slowly and lightly and then increasing until the heavens poured in torrents, joined by the waters from beneath when the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The waters were God's wrath poured out against great wickedness and violence, destroying every living thing outside the ark while the ark rode safely by God's power and preserved the obedient until the indignation was overpast. As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be at the second coming of the Son of man, when a secure, pleasure-loving world will likewise be taken unawares, and the Flood stands with Sodom and the final destruction by fire as the same verdict on impenitence.
Timing Before the Rain
The rain fell only after Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives, eight persons in all, together with the animals, had entered the ark and the Lord had shut them in, in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. Those shut in then waited seven rainless days with clear skies, and the rain began on the eighth day. That delay tried Noah's faith while outsiders mocked and derided, and during that testing week the quiet entry of the beasts and birds two by two under invisible leading stood as evidence before those who instead of humbling themselves chose mockery.
It was the first rain ever seen, with the first clouds ever seen, for up to that time no rain had fallen and the earth had been watered by a mist, so there had been no natural sign of such rain. The rain began slowly and lightly at first and then increased until the heavens were opened and poured down in torrents like the windows of heaven opened. Methuselah and some of his family received Noah's instruction and helped build the ark. The Flood is a historical event and Noah a literal person.
Character of the Deluge
The rain was a literal downpour upon the earth for forty days and forty nights without stopping. It poured morning and evening, at first taken up by the ground and then rising higher and higher day by day until the ground could drink it up no longer, and men looked on one another in despair at its continuance. The storm remained terrifying throughout the whole time.
Water from above was joined by water from beneath, for the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. The crust of the earth was broken, powerful jets burst from the earth, water hidden in its bowels burst forth, and large stones were thrown into the air. Water from heaven joined waters gushing from the earth to bring desolation, pouring down like cataracts as the deep also burst forth.
The waters overwhelmed the surface, entered houses, and destroyed every living thing outside the ark until not a living person or animal outside was left alive. People fled everywhere for refuge, crying for safety, pleading for admission and clinging to the ark until washed away by the waves, climbing mountains and trees and the tops of the highest trees with terrified animals, only to be swept into the boiling deep and flung into the foaming flood. They climbed to the mountains for safety, but the water reached over the tops of the highest trees.
The opening destruction began with the works of men's own hands. Their splendid buildings and the beautiful gardens and groves where they had placed their idols, with palaces and costly works to satisfy pleasure lovers, beautiful forests, fruitful trees and shady avenues, were destroyed by lightning from heaven, uprooted by torrents, swept away with the inhabitants, and scattered in ruins far and wide with masses of rubbish and earth. Idol temples were swept away, the places where men had placed idols were filled, the altars where human sacrifices had been offered were torn down, and rocks concealed under the surface were thrown up to cover the most lovely places men had adored, so that worshipers trembled at the power of the living God and knew their corruption and idolatry had called down destruction.
The catastrophe transformed and broke up the earth's surface, leaving it broken, disordered, uneven, and a frightful solitude under a curse, burying its former treasures. As the crust was re-formed it preserved evidence of the life that existed before the Flood, still seen in rocks thrown up from the deep and from the earth, deep gorges, seamed and cleft rocks, and varied shapes and structures. The time and setting of ancient remains are learned from this inspired history rather than inferred from geology alone, and the terrors of that awful outpouring are vivid when its witnesses are beheld.
Throughout the frightful storm that hurled trees, buildings, rocks, and earth about, the ark floated upon the troubled waters and rode safely by God's power. Its safety was a continuing miracle of almighty power, for angels guided it and preserved it from harm. The rising water lifted the immense boat built on dry land by itself to form a great sea around it, so no iron standards were needed to bear it up and no track was needed to carry it to the water.
Wickedness and Rejected Warning
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and that the earth was corrupt before Him and filled with violence and crime. That corruption had grown through unrestrained eating and drinking, appetite and indulgence without check, until it was so great that He could no longer bear with it.
Men had put God out of their knowledge and worshiped creatures of their own imagination, clothing false gods with human attributes and passions, and by beholding them became like them and were defiled. In doing so the inhabitants transgressed His law given as a rule of life, and the breaking forth of the waters that threw up rocks from the great deep still leaves witnesses to that judgment to be seen. Their transgression was continual and open and daring, with ingratitude and disobedience, justice trampled in the dust until the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven, and after Adam's fall men grew only more bold in disobedience. It was for this continual transgression that the flood came, while Noah and his family preserved the law and were saved in the ark by miracle because of their right-doing.
Yet in mercy God gave one hundred and twenty years to repent, to choose between good and evil, to turn from sins, overcome bad habits, and form righteous characters, time enough to find refuge in the ark. During that probation Noah as a preacher of righteousness faithfully bore God's warning that at the end of that time He would send a flood upon the impenitent, and that all who would not keep heaven's commandments should drink the waters of the flood. He warned by voice while preaching and building the immense ark, a boat on dry land, and Noah with his helpers and the believing ones kept working and preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn heaped upon them. Only a few repented, for some carpenters he employed who believed died before the flood and others of his converts backslid, so that only eight lived to enter the ark.
The large population rejected the gracious invitation to repent and be saved, and persisted in crime and violence, in planting and building, eating and drinking, marrying, idolatrous business, vileness and crime. They followed their own pleasure in money-making routine, rioting, godless pleasure, and inventions of iniquity, and through their violence acted as though bringing awakened wrath upon themselves. Nearly all thought Noah was wrong and they were right, claimed to know more than God's faithful servant, and closed their ears to truth until darkness came upon them. They denounced him as a visionary, fanatic, alarmist, enthusiast, and not levelheaded, branding his warnings as superstitious fears and forebodings. They explained his statement by false science as foolishness, laughed and mocked his words as parables, derided the messages from heaven, drove away their fears with loud merriment, and trusted that the natural order would prevent destruction.
Their unbelief and mockery did not hinder the predicted event, nor did rejection make the message of none effect, for the rain Noah foretold actually came though no sign of such rain had ever existed. They finally drank the waters that covered the earth, and none but Noah and his family were saved in the ark. This proves that majority opinion and opposition do not change God's Word, that great numbers do not determine truth, and that heaven is not reached by following the majority.
Judgment and Deliverance
The forty days and nights of rain were the pouring out of divine indignation and wrath upon transgressors, an exhibition of power against an impenitent world that had grown more bold in disobeying the law since Adam's fall. The Flood deluged the earth because its inhabitants had transgressed that law, and it remains an awful outpouring whose terrors are vivid when its witnesses are beheld in the rocks thrown up from the great deep and from the earth. After bearing long with sin, God vindicated His authority when the crisis came, for He beholds all the works of men though the wicked say their way is hidden from Him.
He had declared the limits of forbearance and sent warning through a faithful servant for one hundred and twenty years to turn from sin, but that love was rejected and despised until the measure of iniquity was full and the bounds of long-suffering, grace, and mercy were passed. Men exceeded those bounds when, with a plain word from the Lord to guide them, they presumed on mercy, went decidedly counter to His will, and despised all warnings. Then God interfered in wrath to vindicate the honor of His law, repress the increase of unrighteousness, blot out those indifferent to His law, limit human life, and prevent men from spoiling one another in continual disobedience and defiance. Their course of persisting in crime and violence and repeatedly rejecting the messages sent wore out long-suffering patience, so that as despisers of mercy they were made to drink the waters of the flood. In that act He appeared as avenger to the wicked and protector of the righteous, giving ear to His people who had cried to Him with humiliation and fasting for wickedness to end, and answering them by terrible things in righteousness.
In judging a corrupt world and removing its wicked inhabitants, God acted in mercy and cleansed the earth of moral corruption. That corruption had become so great through unchecked appetite and unrestrained eating, drinking, and indulgence that He could no longer bear with them. Both water and fire declare His verdict on those unwilling to submit to Him.
The ark gave shelter to the obedient until the indignation was overpast, for God preserved Noah and his family because of their right-doing. Only eight righteous persons of that vast population, Noah with his wife and his sons and their wives, believed the warning, fled for refuge, entered, and were saved, while the rebellious race outside were swept away and death was their portion. Some who had believed for a time died before the Flood and others backslid, so only those eight lived to enter. Noah and his family had preserved the law and were saved in the ark by miracle.
The Flood thus distinguished the obedient from the disobedient by the standard of God's law and proved His word true. All were tested by the truth Noah preached while he and his helpers kept working on the immense ark, a boat on dry land, and preaching all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn heaped on them. Those who believed and turned from unrighteousness were saved, exemplifying the reward of obedience and the penalty of disobedience. The destruction of the antediluvian world by the Flood was the sure result of transgression of the holy law by inhabitants who would not heed the admonitions given them, and it gives a lesson embracing all time on what disobedience brings, standing with the destruction of Sodom, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the final destruction of the whole world in the closing period of its history for the same transgression and impenitence.
The rain came after Adam and Eve fell in Eden and opened the floodgates of woe, when the world had become corrupt before God and only a few would believe. The Flood stands within the great plan of redemption laid before creation, by which humanity is given the privilege of gaining back God-given manhood and womanhood so the immortal image of God may be restored.
Pattern for the End
As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the Son of man, for the deliverance of Noah and the destruction of those who knew not until the flood took them all away leave the same pattern for Christ's sudden second coming and final judgment, when a pleasure-loving world absorbed in worldly life will likewise be taken unawares. The rain was a literal downpour for forty days and nights after Noah, his family, and the animals had entered the ark and the Lord had shut them in, in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, when the fountains of the deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. It came as the fulfillment of the warning Noah had preached by voice and by building the ark during one hundred and twenty years of probation to repent of sins and find refuge, time enough to turn, overcome bad habits, and form righteous characters, which the large population rejected with planting and building, eating and drinking, marrying, idolatrous business, vileness and crime, denouncing Noah as a visionary, fanatic, and alarmist and mocking his warnings as superstitious fears. Their rejection and mockery did not hinder the predicted event, and those who refused were left in darkness to follow the curse their own hearts had chosen, perishing in their sins until not a living person or animal outside was left alive, under great wrath seen in general ruin, which proves men can exceed the bounds of long-suffering and the limits of grace when with a thus saith the Lord they presume on mercy, go counter to His will, and despise all warnings, so that God interferes in wrath to vindicate His law, repress unrighteousness, blot out indifference, limit life, and prevent continual defiance. The Flood was a historical event and Noah a literal person, and Christ's comparison shows that human nature unguided by God's Spirit is the same, while Noah's deliverance serves as a pattern for God's people who warn of coming judgment and will be protected from the wicked who seek to destroy them, including those who refuse the beast's decree and mark.
Sudden destruction will break upon a pleasure-loving, moneymaking, secure world and upon a sleeping church crying peace and safety, unprepared for the Lord's appearing, after the promised rain actually fell on a world that had had no rain, fulfilling God's warning through Noah despite mockery, scorn, and unbelief about an ark built on dry land and destroying the wicked who refused to believe and enter for safety, which shows unbelief cannot prevent threatened judgment. The inhabitants of Noah's world forgot admonition and were overtaken while asleep in carnal security, full of rioting and godless pleasure, putting afar off the Lord's coming, laughing at warnings and calling the warners fanatics, enthusiasts, and not levelheaded, carrying on plans and inventions of iniquity and routine money-making work without principle, boastful that all things remain as from the beginning, and their being taken unawares is the pattern for the day the Son of man is revealed, when the pleasure-loving world will likewise be taken unawares by Christ coming as a thief. The whole world is fast becoming as then, with eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and the flood took them all away, with fraudulent transactions, murders, and crimes of every kind so common they no longer shock, and with the Spirit being withdrawn and keeping power soon refused to those who disregard His commandments. As Noah was preserved in the ark God had prepared for him, so in the coming days of destruction and calamity, with convulsed nature, burning mountains, boiling waters, mighty earthquakes, and great destruction of life before the Son of man appears in the clouds, God will be the refuge of His believing ones and no evil or plague will come nigh their dwelling, for He will hide them in His pavilion and set them upon a rock.
The waters that judged a corrupt world and removed its wicked inhabitants in mercy also serve as a pattern for the fires of the final day, for both water and fire declare God's verdict on those unwilling to submit to Him. The flood destroyed the inhabitants because after one hundred and twenty years granted to choose between good and evil they deliberately chose their own wicked ways and did not repent and turn, and it warns of the coming great destruction of the world by fire, before which men are again granted a period of test and trial to show whether they will be loyal and obey His law. The destruction by flood was the sure result of transgression of God's holy law and gives a lesson embracing all time on what disobedience brings, standing with the destruction of Sodom, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the final destruction of the whole world in the closing period of history for the same transgression and impenitence.
As it was in the days of Noah so it is today, for the rain did not fall at once after Noah entered and God shut the door, but after seven rainless days in which the people mocked instead of humbling themselves despite the evidence of the animals quietly entering two and two under invisible leading, and when the week ended the rain began gently then increased in power until every living thing was destroyed and the hardened were swept away, and with wickedness increasing only a very short time is left to prepare before another general destruction. Time is very short because wickedness is increasing as then, and as the animals came without visible leader, then the hour came to close the ark and it was closed and the old world perished, so the closing means the last call of mercy is not heard by those blinded by peace and safety theories while trying to serve two masters, leaving him that is holy holy still and him that is filthy filthy still, so all must humble themselves under the mighty hand of God and wake up and get ready before it is everlastingly too late. God looks upon the world today just as then, and increasing calamities, earthquakes, floods, and disasters by land and sea belong to that same judgment, and He sends warning messages today just as He sent them before the rain came, because this age repeats the wickedness before the flood.
Though moral darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, the duty remains to lift the voice in warning, for the rain fell on an impenitent, pleasure-loving, corrupt world after Noah faithfully bore God's message in obedience, and only eight of that vast population accepted, fled for refuge into the ark, and were saved, while his message condemned the unbelieving world. The same unbelief that prevailed before the Flood will exist prior to Christ's coming, and professed children of God are to be called to face transgressions, receive sufficient light, keep all His commandments, and be saved, with the message proving a savor of life unto life to those who heed it and of death unto death to those who reject it. The obedient were distinguished from the disobedient by the standard of God's law when the one-hundred-twenty-year probation given in mercy closed and the unrepentant were swept from the earth, while Noah and his helpers kept working on the immense ark, a boat on dry land, and the believing ones kept the faith and preached all the more earnestly in proportion to the ridicule and scorn heaped on them.
Loyalty to God and His law must not shift even if the whole world opposes, for the rain Noah foretold actually came though no signs of such rain had ever existed, while nearly all thought he was wrong and they were right, claimed to know more than God's servant, closed their ears to truth so darkness came upon them, branded him a fanatic, explained by false science that his statement was foolishness, and laughed and mocked his words as parables. Their unbelief did not prevent the flood, and they finally drank the waters that covered the earth, which shows majority opinion and opposition do not change God's Word, walking contrary to His Word stirs rebellion and brings His displeasure, so believers are to be found loyal and true when Christ comes.